Pro-touring is dead

[Boatmark]

Not trying to hush anyone up, just thinking about another perspective. I think my point may have been passed over. Everyone gets up in arms that they think David said something bad about pro-touring . . . then proceed to bash every other style vehicle on two wheels. Isn't there just a touch of irony here?

[406 Q-ship]

OOOOOOHHHHH boy Im jealous I loved 660s, lost a chance to buy a matched part long time ago.
BUT I do think a tunnel ram with dual throttle bodies would be cool, I honestly had a chance to buy a 60s Comet/Falcon with a straight axle but it wasnt super high, and it really handled well for a straight axle.
I would have yanked the Cleveland, put in a 347, maybe a turbo, better wheels and tires and maybe some air ride and drove it.
But it went and now I have other ideas.
As for using you, sorry but hey I was trying to make a point, IF Dave wants to bash PT let him, lets all be the better sportsman and let it lay.
If someone does something stupid, wait, when they see you ride, drive, turn and stop like a new car, get great mileage and run like stink,,, then others will follow,,,,IF THEY WANT TO.
We have a sport/hobby that can and will continue and grow for some.
But the lady I work with has a Gbody Monte, it has carbe sort of through the hood, big and littles and will barely do a pegleg burnout.
If she brings it in and lets me tune it, she would have a real nice running car.
I hope either the Monza or the Caprice shows what can be done.
Lets lead by example rather than "bashing" like the other guy.

No worries I was just bustin your chops.....

[parsonsj]

Isn't there just a touch of irony here?

It's a valid point. But the scale is off. DF writes in a magazine with a large circulation that actively works to influence car enthusiast trends. We're just regular guys whining on a message board.

jp

[syborg tt]

You forgot the Milk

[NOT A TA]

Couple observations

Did anyone notice the person who started this thread has 1 post? The one that began the thread.

I was in a machine shop today. 3 guys were talking about the cars they're doing now, a 70 Chevelle, 71 Nova and a 66 Mustang. These guys were all young guys probably born in the 80's and work in shops. One worked in a tranny shop, one in general repairs and one in Spanish River Auto and Muscle Cars which according to the business card he gave me is "A REAL OLD SCHOOL HOTROD SHOP"

They were all excited about the "old school" parts they scored on ebay. They wanted to know if I had old parts from the 70's left. They had no desire to build modern PT / G machine type cars. They wanted to build cars like the ones I had in high school! I immediately thought of this thread I'd seen a couple days ago. I might sell one of them a C6 for small block Ford to go in the Mustang.

The owner of the machine shop we were at? Well, his 69 Camaro is being "backhalved" this week.

I'll bet those 3 guys projects are out on the streets before PT projects started at the same time are so whats going to be seen? The "old school" cars, so it will appear they're more popular

I've only talked to David at races I'm in that he's covering and the topic of whether PT is dead has never come up. He seems like a car guy like us who has one of the dream jobs we all wish we had. He took pictures of my car and used them in the mag. Maybe a whole bunch of PT cars should show up at the next race sponsored by HOT ROD?

In my opinion HOT ROD has always been a bit more race oriented than other mags so it makes sense that they'll cover what they see at the tracks. I've been to quite a few events at drag strips, road race tracks and land speed racing events. My car is usually the only G-machine type car and there are no PT cars running.

I raced this past weekend (land Speed Race) at Dade-Collier airport out in the Everglades and to my great surprise a very nice 69 Camaro PT car showed up! But it was just there as a spectator. Usually there isn't anyone representing this segment of the hobby at all, never mind signing up and actually racing.

GM High-Tech Performance magazine was at the LSR covering the event and doing a photo shoot for the 2010 Camaro project car they're doing. If there was a nice PT car running in the race using an LS engine I'd bet it would have made it into the mag.

I don't go to cruise nights very often but I rarely see a PT car. Yet there's always many other build types represented. So again thats what gets seen.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

You forgot the Milk

[Larry Callahan]

Pro-Touring is dead and I get this a few days ago. LOL!



Larry,

I just wanted to send you a quick note to tell you how impressed I am with Pro-touring.com. You've got a terrific organization here. I had seen a little video from the autocross "leaked" on Youtube already and had shared that with members of The MuscleCar Place (my business) Facebook page. People really liked it.

Would you be at all interested in doing a telephone interview in the future? I host a weekly podcast radio show for The MuscleCar Place (which is actually a classifieds listing service for American muscle cars, but we have a popular podcast as well). We feature someone from industry each week that is doing something neat and big - and nothing is hotter in the muscle car world than pro-touring right now!

Looking forward to hearing from you!

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

yup...

[69496]

Personally I don't care for the 70's theme in this issue of Hot Rod either. But they are doing an article on the 33 ford kit from factory five. I don't think you can get much more pro-touring than that. Ok it doesn't have climate control. But it is old skin over modern brakes, suspension and drivetrain.

[Jim Nilsen]

I just saw in the latest Hot Rod, where he took the Crusher Camaro and purposely fuglied it up.

That's perfect for me. the Crusher was so much like my car from a distance other than wheels that I was worried someone would compare the 2. If he is messing it up and making it suck , then the Cormaro will stand out a lot more in the future on it's own.

I really liked the Crusher and have the diecast of it.

[parsonsj]

But they are doing an article on the 33 ford kit from factory five. I don't think you can get much more pro-touring than that.

I have a problem with that kit (and the GTM kit, for that matter):

No sway bars. And no easy way to add them. I don't know how one can get real serious with handling without the ability to tune the suspension with sway bars.

jp

[Jim Nilsen]

As far as I am concerned frieburger is an idiot asshat. that thinks what he know everything about cars and the automotive hobby.

who cares what he says and thinks.

BTW: isn't he a member on here???
Tim

MEMBER can describe a bunch of things and if the post he has made in the past make him a MEMBER as much as it made him an editor and salesman along with being an Antgonist to get print, then I would guess he is a Member here. Just be careful of what you do with MEMBERS like that so it is not incriminating in a bad way.

Until this site has no new members and the old ones die, the only thing dead about protouring will be the outlook of one MEMBER. Then maybe he will go play with his MEMBER because he won't have anything to write about !

Sorry Dave, If cancer had killed me my car would have not gotten finished my way but I doubt if the protouring part of it would have died with me.

[Scott Parkhurst]

The way I see it, if this new 'trend' catches on (and I'm not holding my breath), I'm a pair of sidepipes and a quartet of slot mags away from being cutting edge.


I've got the sidepipes in the garage- new in the box. It was something I was considering a few years back, but decided against because I didn't want to give any of my passengers the 'calf brands' I'd experienced myself over the years with sidepipe-equipped rides. I kinda like the look though- they make cars look longer and lower, and they sound pretty cool too. They were common on road race Vettes and Cobras back in the day, so if you're shooting for a vintage look, they're not completely out of place.

There were some good looking slot wheels back then too. Some looked like cheap junk, but some looked pretty good. Too bad they were all 15s though.

I like vintage style. My car looks 'kinda' '60s style now, and I might be willing to change it over the years. Not now though. I like it how it is...

...for now.

[JohnUlaszek]

Basically, if you put an "IS" in the front or back of the phrase "Pro-Touring" and follow it with any other words you create an incredible disturbance in the fabric of the universe.

You would think DF built a UFO shaped helium balloon and called the media to tell them Pro-Touring accidentally got trapped inside it before it floated away.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

Basically, if you put an "IS" in the front or back of the phrase "Pro-Touring" and follow it with any other words you create an incredible disturbance in the fabric of the universe.

You would think DF built a UFO shaped helium balloon and called the media to tell them Pro-Touring accidentally got trapped inside it before it floated away.

[Jim Nilsen]

I am wonderering what would happen if we challenged Dave to build a PT car and put it in HotRod on the basis that we don't believe he can ? Afterall , you have to be able to concieve the thought of how to build one. Do you think he could do it? I wonder if he could and if he did, what would it be like? Maybe the budget at HotRod can't afford a PT build because of the time and money it takes?

I have nothing but questions for the man about his ability and desire and not about whether or not PT is dead. You know he likes cars and how could he not really want to build one unless of coarse he just can't wrap his mind around it anymore than the typical HotRod reader.

So who is going to put the challenge to him?

[JohnUlaszek]

When you start spending 50k to 100k or more on a build you run the risk of "jumping the shark".
Given PT has been the next big thing for several years now, a backlash should come as no surprise.

What makes a car like IIMuch kick ass can also be too much for the average guy who just wants to get out and enjoy his muscle car. Sure fuel injection is great, but carbs are cheap, easy to tune, and changing jets is a much different experience than uploading a tune via a laptop.

Nobody is saying we can't or won't keep enjoying ourselves; trends come and go and at some point we just might get to watch the next big thing from the sidelines.

[syborg tt]

So how would one classify the F-Bomb. It was without a doubt one of those cars people will alway's talk about.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

its a four letter word, frowned upon ones upbringing for its usage, normally bleeped out during normal tv programs... except HBO.
most notably used for when a mistake is eminent... or even failure.

such as:

"oh no the breaks are out!".... oh ****!!!!

[Steve Chryssos]

Is this a bad time to post a Root Canal video link?